Martin Brodeur happy to still be with Devils

“I’m pretty excited to be here,” Martin Brodeur said a day after the NHL trade deadline came and went and he was still a member of the Devils.

NEWARK – Martin Brodeur was back at work Thursday and back where he’s been for all 20 seasons of his NHL career, in net for the Devils.

Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline came and went without Brodeur being moved, so he was on the ice with the rest of the Devils for practice at Prudential Center.

Brodeur had said he was open to waiving the no-trade clause in his contract if GM Lou Lamoriello could find an opportunity for him to play more often than he had been, with Cory Schneider starting 14 of the last 19 games.

Lamoriello opted not to trade him, however, and the opportunity to play more seems to be coming with the Devils now. Schneider will be in net for tonight’s rematch with the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena, but head coach Pete DeBoer will turn back to Brodeur, who played in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Red Wings, for Saturday’s home game against Carolina.

That will be three starts in five games for Brodeur after Schneider started seven in a row.

“I’m pretty excited to be here,” Brodeur said. “I don’t have to go anywhere. It’s a certain situation that was out of my control. I want to play some games. I want to play in the playoffs. This is some of the stuff I asked Lou.

“We had a conversation about playing time and getting in the playoffs. So, I expect to play and I expect myself to try to be in the playoffs also and get a big run, get a big push. It’s all up to me to play well when I’m called upon.”

DeBoer believes “it’s a great thing” Brodeur was not traded and said he is “sensitive” to his desire to play more just as he knows Schneider would like to play more.

“But we’re going to make the best decision to win the game that night,” DeBoer said. “That’s the spot we’re in in the season.”

Whether it works out and whether Brodeur still might end up playing somewhere else next season should he not retire (which seems unlikely now), Brodeur is unsure.

“We’ll see at the end of the year, the future,” he said. “I’m going to do my best to play as many games as possible and get in the playoffs. I don’t have many years left and I want to get in the playoffs and try to get another run.”

After attending a team meeting at Prudential Center, Brodeur spent Wednesday car shopping with his son and waiting to see if Lamoriello would call with a trade offer that might fit his request. Lamoriello did call shortly before the 3 p.m. deadline to tell him, “He was not going to do anything.”

Brodeur denied a report that he had supplied Lamoriello a list of eight or nine teams that he’d be willing to go to.

“It was more of a situation that was I looking for and they were pretty hard to get,” Brodeur said. “But I was pretty particular about what I asked, so I knew the chances were that I was not going to go anywhere,” he said.

The only trade Lamoriello made was to acquire forward Tuomo Ruutu from Carolina. In Thursday’s practice, Ruutu skated at left wing on a line with Dainius Zubrus and Michael Ryder.

The Devils got Ruutu, 31, in hope of adding some grit and scoring up front.

“It’s always nice when somebody’s interested in you and I’m pretty happy to come here and, hopefully, I can help the team in my own way,” Ruutu said.